Matt Naumec '15 again played well enough to win the Francis Ouimet Memorial Golf Tournament.
And this year, he won it.
The Wilbraham native posted a three-stroke win at the 49th annual amateur championship, closing with a 1-over-par 73 Friday at Woodland Golf Club in Auburndale. His 6-under 209 edged three golfers at 212.
Naumec birdied two of his last three holes to protect a three-stroke lead that he had held after the first two rounds. The GreatHorse member was in a similar position in his debut in 2015, but Peter French birdied eight of his last 10 holes to shoot a 66 and win the title.
"I was joking around with Frenchie about that," Naumec said. "He came up to me and said, 'Congratulations' and I said to him 'Hey, man, at least you didn't go crazy on me this year.' We both played great last year and it would've meant a lot to me to win this in my first year, but coming back and performing again means a great deal."
Naumec, a sophomore at Boston College, said the key point this year came at the 16th hole.
"(On No. 16) I was able to birdie and it really was a momentum changer for me," Naumec told reporters. "I was struggling to make a birdie. To make a putt or drop a putt. I was making good putts with good pace, but they weren't dropping. I was able to make about a 20-footer with a double breaker and it put me in the mindset that I maybe had a chance (to win) even with not knowing where I was and having a great mindset going in (to the final day). Unfortunately, I bogeyed 17, but followed that up with a birdie on 18."
Naumec was coming off a 17th place finish at the New England Amateur and a trip to the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts Amateur. Earlier this summer, he had reached the sectional round of qualifiying for the U.S. Open.